Task force divvies up work

Groups examining possible changes to discrimination policy

Mar. 12, 2013

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Taking a cue from earlier citizen committees, members of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Task Force have decided to split into smaller study groups as they research proposed changes to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinances.

The citizen task force, which held its third meeting Monday, was appointed by City Council to evaluate whether city code should be amended to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“The subcommittees are going out (to gather information) and will try to summarize that information for the bigger group,” said task force chairman Miles Sweeney.

Any recommendations then will be discussed and voted on by the board as a whole, he said. “Our eventual goal is to have one report to go to City Council.”

After discussing possible subcommittee structures Monday, task force members eventually settled on a plan to split into three groups of five assigned to the following broad topics:

• Employment

• Public accommodations and housing

• Health care and transgender issues.

In addition, one or more members from each of those committees likely will be assigned to an additional group that will talk with local faith-based organizations and other advocacy groups.

The task force initially discussed splitting into five groups of three members each but opted for a smaller number of larger groups in order to limit the chance that a particular subcommittee would end up with three like-minded members.

“You get a little broader spectrum of folks with five on a subcommittee,” Sweeney said.

As they conduct their research, each subcommittee also will be looking for evidence the ordinance changes are needed, as well as how other cities and organizations have dealt with the issue.

“Are there hot spots (of discrimination) that we can look at?” task force member Gary Whitaker said, suggesting one possible avenue of research.

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On the other side of the equation, the task force should try to identify the parts of the ordinance that have caused the most friction, he said. “Are there pieces we can kind of smooth out and maybe some of the heat will go away?”

City Attorney Dan Wichmer said that, during earlier discussions, the most controversial had to do with discrimination related to public accommodations.

Wichmer gave the example of a florist who is asked to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding but objects to homosexuality on religious grounds. An exemption for religious institutions included in the proposed ordinance would not apply in that case, he said, so it could be found to be discriminating by refusing to serve a homosexual client.

Concerns about crafting restroom policies to accommodate people who are transgender also have been “a hot button issue,” said Kelly Johnson, chair of the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations, which requested the amendments be made to the nondiscrimination ordinance.

Task force member Randy Doennig suggested that the subcommittees review the research already done by the human rights commission and incorporate it where possible. “We don’t have a lot of time to go back and start at square one.”

Sweeney cautioned against relying too much on the commission’s work, however, noting that if City Council was content with the existing input, “they wouldn’t have hired us.”

“We are charged with the responsibility of investigating it ourselves,” he said.

Task force members also discussed scheduling presentations by a few, representative speakers with varied opinions on the issue.

“What we want to avoid is the free-for-all City Council was subjected to” during several lengthy public hearings in August, Sweeney said.

For the next meeting, March 18, task force members suggested inviting a representative of PROMO, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group, as well as John Lindell, pastor at James River Assembly.